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UTEP wide receiver Warren Redix is one of the returning receivers for the Miners.(Photo: RUDY GUTIERREZ / EL PASO TIMES)

As the UTEP football team casts about for enough bodies to get through Saturday's game against Louisiana Tech, freshman Warren Redix has become the answer man.

He's a receiver, where he's listed on the depth chart as the backup slot, and was the Miners' best pass catcher against Old Dominion last week. He's a tailback, a key cog in coach Sean Kugler's "running back by desperation" committee.

Redix is a punt returner, and he's been pretty good at it. The Montwood High School graduate is a kick returner, too.

In his first year with the program after a grayshirt last fall, Redix has carved out a potpourri of roles, commanding the question: What is his position?

"Warren Redix is a football player," Kugler said. "He'll get more touches. I really like what he can do as a running back. I like what he can do as a receiver, as a returner.

"He's got a lot of heart. He's going to be a really good football player for us. Right now, he is a healthy guy, and we need to utilize him the last two games. I'm a big fan of Warren Redix.

"He's our captain of the week and he'll carry our pickaxe, representing our team for what he's done not only on offense, but also on special teams. He's a good football player.”

"I do a little bit of everything," is how Redix put it. "The way I explain it, I do whatever the team needs me to do, whatever I can do to help the team win."

That's been more and more each passing week. When camp broke he was the fifth receiver, and while he had shown enough to play as a true freshman, his role looked to be limited. The theme for UTEP since has been injuries and more injuries, but while that helped sink a season that began with high hopes, it also meant chances for younger players, chances for anyone who could stay well.

Redix fit both bills.

"I knew I'd be getting some playing time, I didn't realize it would be this big," Redix said. "Toward the middle of the season guys were going down, we needed to find a way to move the ball."

Last week, that meant four receptions for 75 yards, both team-leading totals, two rushes, three punt returns for 22 yards and two kickoff returns for 28 yards, and not much of that was the plan going into the year.

Still, Kugler is not surprised.

"We felt coming out of high school he was the best player in the city," Kugler said.

There was a recruiting process, Redix considered other places, but he saw something the year before that indicated times were changing at UTEP.

"When I saw he recruited the Jones brothers (out of Burges a year earlier), I saw what was going on," he said.

Redix was an El Paso Times All-City player out of Montwood in 2013, where he mostly played slot receiver, but spent 2014 on his grayshirt, missing football.

"It was tough, I'm very competitive and I wanted to be out there with the guys on the bowl run," he said. "But, I knew I was working hard on conditioning, in the weight room, I knew it was something I had to do to be better in the future."

Now, it's all playing dividends.

"He's stepped up his play, he does a lot of different roles," receiver Tyler Batson said. "It's crazy and he's just a freshman. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up playing on defense, he's that good an athlete."

"He's a football player that's what he is," quarterback Ryan Metz said. "He's a warrior. He returns punts, he returns kicks, he's a running back, a receiver, he's a great player and he's a big part of this team."

That wasn't something many expected in August, but as times changed for UTEP, Redix was the next man up in a bunch of different places.

Bret Bloomquist may be reached at 546-6151; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @bretbloomquist on Twitter.

Redix file

Who: Warren Redix

Position: 5-foot-10, 185-pound freshman multipurpose player on the UTEP football team

Jersey number: 5

Of note: 19 rushes for 83 yards, 22 catches (third most on team) for 143 yards, three punt returns for 22 yards, two kickoff returns for 28 yards. Led team last week against Old Dominion with four catches for 75 yards. All-City player for Montwood High in 2013. All-District in 2012 and 13.

Game details

What: Louisiana Tech at UTEP in a Conference USA college football game